Thursday, April 28, 2011

According to recent published reports, the top three reasons that people in NYC visit hospital emergency rooms are: stomach pain, head pain, and fever. All three of these reasons are valid ones. It doesn’t surprise that individuals suffering these problems would seek help. The problem arises with the mode of help they choose. There seems to be a growing movement in the United States to find relief for these common illnesses, not in a hospital emergency room, but at an urgent care clinic.Urgent care clinics are popping up all over NYC. To many neutral parties, the list of pros and cons regarding whether to take your medical problem to an emergency room or an urgent care clinic reads as lopsided. It would seem to a majority of those polled that an urgent care clinic is the way to go. But why?

First, there is the issue of wait time. Anyone who has had to wait inside a hospital emergency room knows what a long dreary experience it can be. There you are sick and feeling lousy, surrounded by others in the same state as you, listening for your name to be called. The first ten times you hear other names called you figure the people called were there before you. Yet you soon begin to realize that individuals who came in after you are being called ahead of you.

Sure, you understand if a gunshot victim, or a car crash victim, or a guy with an ax in his head has his name called first, but you just can’t figure out what it is about the guy next to you that makes him bump in front of you on the list. You begin to wonder if there even is a list.

You stagger over to the counter and ask if your name is registered. They assure you it is, as you hear name after name after name called: none of them your name. At a respected urgent care clinic the doctor and staff empathize with the fact that you feel awful and you’re sitting in the waiting room. Sure, there are new glossy magazines to peruse, but the fact is you want to get home, take your medicine and slip into bed.

That is why, on the average, an urgent care clinic will see you in an hour or less. The first time you hear your name called at anurgent care clinic you freeze. Is this a mistake? Did you forget to sign your insurance form? No. It’s just the way things are.

Is it too good to be true? No, not at all. In fact, as long as your medical problem is non-life threatening, you can receive excellent care whenever you need it—at at an affordable price. Definitely preferable to what an emergency room would charge.

Non-life threatening? Sure, an urgent care clinic is not trying to run emergency rooms out of business. In fact, as anyone who has taken the Hippocratic Oath would tell you, there is no better place—with more dedicated people doing a great job—than any hospital emergency room in the country. It’s just that too many people visit them when they do not have a true “emergency.”

Just as the problems listed above reflect, there are tons of other problems that emergency rooms are used for when they really shouldn’t be. These include many of the problems that the staff and doctors at urgent care clinics are trained to deal with. Some of these are:

Flu
MononucleosisSinus infection
Bronchitis
Pneumonia
Pink eye/Sty/Conjunctivitis
Diarrhea
Vomiting
Upset stomach
Sore throat
Ear infections
Cough
Asthma
Food poisoningSTD Testing
Allergic reactions
SprainsBladder infection
HeadachesPPD testing
If these are the types of illnesses you suffer from and want fast, professional, caring, state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line, excellent care—again, at an affordable price, then why not visit an urgent care clinic and see what all the fuss is about.
For those in the NYC area, located just two blocks from many major subway lines on 42nd street, is NYC Urgent Care clinic. This facility is a great way to gage the difference between urgent care and an emergency room. The next time you find yourself with a non-life threatening illness, just log onto Walk in Clinic NYC or call 1-212-696-5900 to arrange a fast appointment (including same day!). We figure you’ll wonder why you hadn’t done this sooner.